The 8th largest bank in North America, BMO, has partnered with the United Way for the past two years to help boost financial literacy in the United States. To help, it has just released a free e-book about personal finance that is available to anyone! The book is a good introductory resource to banking and finance and would be ideal for high school students beginning a Personal Financial Literacy class. It includes information about credit scores, retirement plans, budgeting, and home mortgages. Although not quite “book-length,” the e-book is a quality resource for teens and young adults to learn the basics of financial literacy.
Other Corporate Partners of the United Way
Fortunately, BMO is not the only finance-based corporate partner of the United Way. This large nonprofit also partners with Wells Fargo, which provides financial education outreach and financial services to those in need. U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Fiserv, Synchrony Financial, the London School of Economics, credit card company American Express, and tax giant H&R Block are other corporate partners. Bank of America and H&R Block help the United Way provide free tax filing services to low-income Americans.
FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is also an active partner of the United Way and provides educational workshops to help low-income individuals with skills related to credit scores, managing debt, and budgeting.
Other Free E-Books About Financial Literacy
Fortunately, there are plenty of free e-books online to help anyone boost their knowledge of personal financial literacy. Money Management International (MMI) has a high-quality e-book available, and Intuit’s Mint budgeting software lists thirty free e-books about personal finance! Unfortunately, the Mint blog post does not contain links to the e-books, so you have to use your search browser. The first e-book on the list, created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, is Building Wealth: A Beginner’s Guide to Securing Your Financial Future. A little wordier, but perhaps more in-depth, is Pathways to Getting Ahead, created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Brandeis University.
E-books about investing seem in shorter supply than saving and budgeting, with one listed e-book about investing from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dating back to 1999! Up-to-date e-books about common investment strategies would be a great resource for low-income Americans. While there are many free e-books about investing, they are not necessarily unbiased sources. Many can be found on e-book websites like Smashwords and Free Book Centre. The website investor.gov contains a good list of government agencies and nonprofits that offer valuable information about investing, but not necessarily in e-book form.
BetterInvesting, by the National Association of Investors (NAIC), states that it offers unbiased information about investing and has a series of articles on investment advice. It has a user-friendly menu at the top to access information about different types of investments, such as stocks. It also has a broader section on personal finance, which covers virtually all related topics. While not as convenient as an e-book, its many articles offer much more in-depth information! Happy learning!
